[LE] Is there a way to force leveled NPCs to update?

[Omegacron]

I've got a mod that adds new armor to leveled lists, but it only seems to work on NPCs that spawn after installation of the mod. Any leveled NPCs that existed in a previous save-game aren't updating to the new armor.

 

Is there a way to force these already-spawned NPCs to wear the new armor?

Edited April 18, 2018 by Omegacron

[GAHZIIVAAL]

It depends on the NPC's training. If the NPC has a higher Light Armor training then it will only equip light armor and vice versa for heavy armor. The NPC always puts on the highest armor rating available in it's training. There are a few exploits with Pickpocketing you can use to take of the desired piece and make it default (Like Clothes).

[Omegacron]

It depends on the NPC's training. If the NPC has a higher Light Armor training then it will only equip light armor and vice versa for heavy armor. The NPC always puts on the highest armor rating available in it's training. There are a few exploits with Pickpocketing you can use to take of the desired piece and make it default (Like Clothes).

In this case, both are Light Armor. The mod is "Arma Thalmoris" and it adds Thalmor Armor which is in-between Elven and Glass stat-wise. I changed all the Thalmor leveled lists to use the new Thalmor Armor instead of Elven. On a new character, it works as expected. On an existing save where Thalmor NPCs are already spawned - such as the Thalmor Embassy or Northwatch Keep - they still wear Elven or Glass (according to the level of the character save).

 

It's got me befuddled - I've gone through every leveled list used by a Thalmor NPC and can't find any leftover references to Elven armor. I've seen other cases where changes in an .ESP don't affect existing saves, though, so I'm hoping someone has a way to force an update on the NPCs in a save.

[ladyonthemoon]

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Edited April 20, 2018 by ladyonthemoon

[Omegacron]

 

Levelled lists apply only to the player...

 

To have npc wearing the armour you add to your game, you'd have to create outfits containing that new armour and use scripts to make the npc wear those outfits:

We may be thinking of two different things here. When looking in the Creation Kit, the game is full of leveled NPCs - most of the enemies you encounter are determined by a leveled character template, in addition to leveled outfits and item lists that determine what their gear will be. In a lot of cases, the specific NPC you meet in-game doesn't exist until the cell loads the first time, and it's then that the game figures out what that enemy will be (and wear) according to the player's level. Once that first spawn happens, though, it seems the NPC's inventory is locked in place for that reference. It could be that I'm using the wrong terminology to describe what I mean, though.

 

That said, a script might be the way to go - I'll have to look into that further. Maybe there's a way to make the base templates update again the first time it's loaded after installation of the mod.

Edited April 18, 2018 by Omegacron

[ladyonthemoon]

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Edited April 20, 2018 by ladyonthemoon